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A little bit about me:

As a naturopathic doctor, I have witnessed the power of a preventative lifestyle and naturopathic medicine to transform the health and lives of thousands of patients. To nationally share this extremely good news – how to prevent the preventable – I founded and co-directed The Run: Moving Natural Medicine Forward, and ran 3,000 miles across the USA in 2011, to promote a healthier America and to increase the visibility of naturopathic medicine (see www.TheRun.org). In 2012, as a result of this work, I was awarded California’s first “Naturopathic Doctor of the Year.”

What made sense to me as early as my high school years was what we now refer to as preventative medicine. I became very passionate about nutrition and running, experiencing the power of endorphins, and majored in exercise physiology and nutrition, when these subjects were unknown.

While a student at Oregon State, to test the limits of human endurance and promote physical fitness and nutrition, at age 21, I ran alone from Corvallis, Oregon, to Calgary, Canada, averaging 39 miles a day, for 37 days, over the Cascades and Canadian Rockies, pushing my physical and mental limits.

After college, I became a community organizer for peace and justice in Latin America making many journeys to Central and South America. Again, using running to make a statement, I ran 3,006 miles cross the North American continent, in what became known in the media as a “Run of Conscience.”

Yearning for a deeper spirituality, I attended the Maryknoll School of Theology, and received an M.A. in Theological Studies, with an emphasis in social justice and peace. I then taught high school religious studies courses for seven years.

The next journey was thinking whole person health. I attended and graduated from the National College of Naturopathic Medicine in Portland, and have been in practice for nine years.

My Philosophy:

The paleo diet has been enormously helpful for my patients, especially patients who struggle with elevated triglycerides, diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease. Limiting grains, helps to reduce unnecessary starch. The paleo diet has also been critically important in helping to reduce the impact of inflammation regarding autoimmune disease. Gluten is a major societal health hazard; the paleo diet helps to reduce or eliminate the negative impact of gluten and inflammation!